Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Delhi, on Thursday will hold the annual bilateral summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is expected to sign big defence deals on Friday.

Puti arrived on a two-day visit to hold the annual bilateral summit with PM Modi. The Russian President who is accompanied by a high-level delegation, was received by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

"Welcome to India, President Putin! I wish you a fruitful stay in India. I look forward to our negotiations, which will undoubtedly strengthen the friendship between India and Russia," said PM Modi in a tweet.

The key agenda during the visit is to sign the pact for India's acquisition of the advanced S-400 Triumf air defence missile system along with the deal for additional four stealth frigates, with a top Kremlin aide saying Tuesday that Russian President Putin will oversee the signing of the $5 billion deal. Six such frigates of the similar class are already part of the Indian Navy.

Russia is India's biggest defence supplier. It is the only country which leased the nuclear submarine Chakra to India. 

The deal for five S-400 Triumf missile air defence systems, likely to be bought, was clouded due to the US' Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) which was signed into law by United States President Donald Trump. The CAATSA laid sanctions against any country having 'significant transaction' with Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Laxman Behera, Research Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses while accepting the possibility of the formation of Joint Working Group for Military Cooperation, said that "India has to deal with the challenges to maintain the strategic ties with Russia and also to have good relations with the US."

The five components of the Russia-India privileged partnership are politics, development, civil-nuclear cooperation, counter-terrorism and space.

India and Russia have raised their bilateral military exercise Indra to the tri-services level. All the three services from both the countries will exercise together, which is first of its kind with any other country.

India intends to use the five batallions worth over $5 billion to augment its defences along the 4,000-km India-China border. Both leaders will also discuss key regional and global issues, including US sanctions on import of Iranian crude oil. A number of crucial energy deals are also slated to be signed. India’s state-owned ONGC Videsh Limited is expected to sign a pact with Gazprom. Besides bilateral talks, Putin will attend the India-Russia Business Summit and is also scheduled to interact with a group of talented children.